After resting for two days at home, He Li arrived at the Spirit Management Office to work.
As soon as he exited the elevator, before even pushing the door open to the main hall, he heard Min Liang’s mournful wail, so tragic it was like a devoted wife discovering her husband’s infidelity.
Pushing the door open, he saw Susan still at the bar, refilling her drink endlessly, while Bai Fei, like a diligent little bee, was fully engrossed in practicing his bartending skills.
Bai Fei sat on the sofa, hunched over his keyboard, tears streaming down his face, letting out occasional cries of despair.
Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention. Sister Jiang, whose fashion sense remained eternally unchanged, was slowly savoring her coffee, while Tao Xue tilted her head, playing with her phone.
“What’s wrong with Brother A Liang?” He Li asked with a smile as he walked in.
Everyone looked at He Li and greeted him with smiles.
“He Li!” Min Liang, clutching his keyboard, lunged onto the sofa, howling and holding the keyboard up to show He Li.
He Li took a couple of steps forward and examined it closely, noticing a crack along the edge of the keyboard.
It was over! Min Liang’s wife, the keyboard, had cracked.
“How did this happen?”
Before Min Liang could speak, Sister Jiang answered first, “He fell asleep on the keyboard while on duty and crushed it himself.”
“Impossible!” Min Liang roared. “I’m as thin as a chick, how could I possibly break a keyboard!”
“Pfft…”
He Li couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The thought of him being as thin as a chick was too much.
Everyone offered words of comfort to Min Liang. Finally, Tao Xue declared angrily, “Stop howling. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“But this model is no longer produced, it’s a discontinued item,” Min Liang said, caressing the keyboard with a wronged expression.
Tao Xue glanced at Min Liang and said, “What I meant was, I’ll buy the company that makes keyboards, and you can make whatever keyboard you want.”
He Li looked at Tao Xue in astonishment. This move was like a sparrow pecking a cow’s backside—truly impressive.
There was nothing more delightful than having a wealthy and generous teammate.
With the matter resolved, peace returned, and everyone reverted to their usual lazy selves.
…
He Li’s life had changed, and he was slowly accepting these changes. From a normal person to a mentally ill individual, then inexplicably becoming an awakening, and discovering that awakenings were gods, destined to participate in the games of gods, meaning the mutual slaughter amongst gods.
He Li went from doubt to rejection, then to acceptance. Finally, he destroyed a god’s shoulder and arm, completely igniting the prelude to the war of gods.
From beginning to end, there had to be a victor. He didn’t know what victory would bring, but he knew that losing meant death.
Meanwhile, He Li was contemplating the path to unlocking his gene lock and the matters after his spiritual power advanced to level seven.
For now, he could confirm that his spiritual power was his own, while his abilities came from Li Qin and Xiao Yue. While relying on their abilities, he couldn’t neglect his own improvement.
The next advancement after a level seven spiritual warrior was the Spirit Infusion Realm spiritual warrior, a completely new realm. Or rather, only by reaching the Spirit Infusion Realm could one truly begin the path of spiritual power cultivation.
He also looked forward to the changes after advancing to the Spirit Infusion Realm, but what worried him most was the gene lock.
He now had a strong desire to unlock his gene lock. Although he knew the necessary conditions, making someone with naturally indifferent emotions secrete dopamine continuously was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Therefore, He Li was searching for other feasible options. He obtained the lowest search authority from Susan, the director of the Binjiang branch, and accessed the Spirit Management Office headquarters’ database to query the archived backups concerning gene locks.
Arctic.
In the icy sea beneath the ice sheet, an ice palace was filled with angry roars, causing ripples to spread through the surrounding seawater.
Gradually, the roaring stopped.
In the ice palace, on the ice crystal throne, Qi Shuang had completely absorbed the Mother of Poplar, which had transformed into his lost left shoulder and left arm. This meant he had lost his armor, his last layer of protection in the war of gods.
Qi Shuang raised his wooden left arm, shaking his shoulder. Sweat beaded on his forehead, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his expression was ferocious and terrifying. He had sacrificed the Mother of Poplar, one of his three divine envoys, but he had no choice. Otherwise, with his physical deficiencies, he would be ruthlessly killed even before his divine power recovered.
Then, after the war of gods ended, the era would restart, and he would be reborn in a cycle.
He was unwilling. He had already failed for tens of thousands of years, and never had he been so disheveled since his awakening.
He felt the intense pain from his shoulder as wooden thorns pierced his muscles and skin, crudely connecting his blood vessels, fascia, and bones.
Gritting his teeth, he braced himself on the throne and slowly stood up, his eyes filled with coldness and hatred.
“Xia Peishu… no, He Li, this time, I will join forces with them and kill you again. I want nothing else; I only want your shoulder and arm.”
…
Norway.
In the small fishing village of Reine, within the Arctic Circle.
On a fishing boat, Hoth, who was cutting steak, stopped his action and slowly looked up at the expressionless red-haired woman sitting opposite him, saying, “Nifita, do you feel it? It’s divine power, in the Arctic.”
Nifita looked through the glass window of the fishing boat into the dark depths of the sea. A brilliant golden flame ignited in her fiery red pupils.
A moment later,
The brilliant golden flame slowly disappeared from Nifita’s eyes, and her pupils returned to their fiery red color.
“It’s… Extreme Ice.”
Hoth thought for a moment and said, “It’s him. I remember his human name, Qi Shuang. He was killed by you in the last war of gods, wasn’t he?”
Nifita added, “He’s injured and hiding in his ice palace in the icy sea beneath the ice sheet.”
Hoth shrugged and continued cutting his steak, saying, “Don’t bother with him for now. Our target this time is still those two fellows.
I’ve already met Xia Peishu. He’s still as overbearing as ever; even after being so brutally killed last time, he hasn’t shown any restraint.”
Nifita looked at Hoth and asked, “Has he awakened?”
“Of course, I welcomed him. I even arranged a little test game,” Hoth said with a proud smile.
Nifita let out a soft hum and then fell silent again.
Hoth, while eating his steak, said with a smile, “Then, just like last time, after those two fellows wake up, the three of us will surround and kill Xia Peishu. You continue…”
“No.”
Nifita said, “This time, we’ll kill him together.”
Hoth paused upon hearing this, then looked at Nifita with amusement, teasing, “You… will do it yourself?”
Nifita slowly shifted her gaze, looking at Hoth.
After a second of eye contact with Nifita, Hoth immediately surrendered, spread his hands, and lowered his head to continue cutting his steak.
…